Bonnie Prince Billy - Lie Down in the Light

I've never been able to put my finger down on the Prince. Like I'm so stuck wondering Smirking Hipster Or Geniune Oddball (etc)? to really let myself react to the music, which is frustrating and really infuriates me so I never listen to anything by him. A friend of mine used to listen to um... that Palace album with the uh...Panther Man on the cover?, Last Blues? He listened to that one a lot, and anyway, I always liked it when I heard it in the background, but stuff like I See A Darkness and others were sort of hit or miss to me. And always just kinda O_o and unmoving to me. I keep trying to give him a chance but it never bites, which is disapointing because when I like him I really, really like him.

I'll get over it one day.

Oh, friend who listened to Last Blues a lot=BigLurks

this one seems really sincere too, i dunno, it's a different one for him.

but yeah based on a strange meeting with him at this in-store performance, i'd definitely go with genuine oddball.

i can't hardly imagine you'd make the sheer volume of work he's done for nearing 20 years just as some kind of hipster smirk thing.

I may give it a shot, I actually busted out I See A Darkness a couple weeks ago and was trying very, very hard to love it. Maybe I just need something new, new perspective and all.

The whole polished aspect may be just the thing to do me in, though. Or at least it's another point in which I'm sort of a flip flopper. Wishy washy they call that.

he's done "polished" before -- the Palace covers record, Greatest Palace Music, is lush and gorgeous, totally sells the songs in a new light.

i've never heard that...or ease on down the road which maybe more along the lines of the new one, from what i've read

from what i heard the new one is similar to ease down the road but generally better.
it's polished in a pretty different way from Greatest, which i would describe as gussied up. new one is still very simple, just clean and bright.

my favorite thing he's done since the e.p. with rian murphy. it sounds a little like he's been listening to iron & wine/lewis & clarke/phosphorescent/bon iver and is showing the kids how it's done

he's done "polished" before

yeah 's what i'm sayin

M@tt you really oughta hear the covers record. Hope you're not too attached to the lo-fi production on those old Palace records though. Same songwriting, totally different interpretations. Very underrated album.

my favorite thing he's done since the e.p. with rian murphy.

oh man super underrated record. love the 60s orch/psych arrangements. i just realized this year that the lyrics were largely made-up gibberish.

M@tt you really oughta hear the covers record. Hope you're not too attached to the lo-fi production on those old Palace records though. Same songwriting, totally different interpretations. Very underrated album.

-- stephen, Thursday, May 29, 2008 7:20 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i've always wanted to and probably will buy it soon....yeah i mean i LOVE the old stuff but i like it when artists fuck with stuff and take chances...it's not the holy gospel by any means...and more and more i realize it's the songs i love not the lo-fi (although i think it works great for him a lot of times)

This is definitely amazing so far. Some tracks sound like joyful Dead songs. Funny you mention the Rian Murphy stuff - I was just thinking BPB is maybe the only artist where my POX would be almost all non-LP tracks. But yeah, this new one is sounding glorious.

i never thought of the dead reference but yeah i know what you mean...kind of an american beauty vibe a little bit

Ease Down the Road is probably his most underrated record. Dudes should check it out if you've given it a pass. I think it's more of the sister record to I See a Darkness than the new one is.

Lie Down in the Light is great though! I've only listened to it 1.5x, but there are some really great songs here. I look forward to digging in.

i've always wanted to and probably will buy it soon....yeah i mean i LOVE the old stuff but i like it when artists fuck with stuff and take chances...it's not the holy gospel by any means...and more and more i realize it's the songs i love not the lo-fi (although i think it works great for him a lot of times)

yes, it's right up yr alley then!

You guys really like this one? I think it's terrible. Some of the most tuneless harmony singing I've heard in a long, long while. Lyrics more trite than usual.

I guess the blowjob song is alright

Tuneless harmony singing? Really?

Also don't think his lyrics are particularly trite. The cheese is tempered by his general eccentricities. Course I could be viewing the album through the lens his older stuff and the man himself and not on its own merits. Still, context isn't irrelevant.

I agree, but that's kinda the problem. It's Bonnie Billy doing Bonnie Billy - death and blowjobs. With a little Little Wings thrown in for good measure. It all seems so...autopilot.

This is a weird thread.

Another fine batch of songs.

I will defend to the death Assholes' right to be completely fucking rong about this album.

Would it be fair to say that the people who like this album like all his stuff? I almost got tempted to buy it, but I've been so bored by everything he's done since Ease Down the Road (which I idly consider, when I consider it at all, 'the start of the problem') that I just didn't bother this time around.

I think if you gravitate toward Palace and I See A Darkness you might not like this album. My buddy who is in that boat didn't like this album at all.

Thank 'ee. I'll give it a miss I think - well, I already have - but I thought I would check with those in the know before continuing to give it a miss. Probably a mistake. Probably love it. Ah, who cares. I hardly listen to anything any more. Hey, here's an idea, instead of carrying on here, I'm going off to grumble to myself while I make some food.

yeah it's more sort of breezy and light than a lot of his stuff.

but, that said, yes i like all his stuff so consider the source.

new song with sweeney!!!!

awesome!

http://en.qoob.tv/audio/clip_view.asp?id=17082

pussy brayed from pussy torn?

classic.

i heard it as "pussy bred from pussy torn"

i think you're right.

still classic.